Jake’s Take: The Gambler’s Last Deal

By: Jacob Elyachar, jakes-take.com

For over 50 years, country music legend Kenny Rogers has entertained generations of fans with his impeccable music catalog and superb showmanship.

After accumulating countless accolades from the American Music Awards, the Country Music Association and the Recording Academy plus selling over 120 million records worldwide, the Country Music Hall of Fame artist announced his retirement from the music industry to spend more time with his family.

“The idea of my retirement came about while I was on an African safari with my family. I thought it that now is the time to do my farewell tour, while I could still travel.”  Said Kenny Rogers.

To commemorate his exit from the public eye, the “Lady” singer-songwriter kicked off his final world tour that will take him to nine countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Singapore and the Philippines.  For Rogers, his last tour aptly named, The Gambler’s Last Deal, will be “totally different” from his previous tours and will also acknowledge the tunes that laid the groundwork for his legendary career.

“I have been doing this for 50 years, so I have a lot of history to cover. The tour is going to be a linear look of my musical history.” Rogers added. “I played in a jazz group, and I also performed with both the New Christy Minstrels and the First Edition. I am going to touch on all these different eras.”

Mr. Rogers began his music career as a member of the Bobby Doyle Trio, before moving on to the Newly Christy Minstrels in 1966. When he felt that he was going nowhere with the group, Rogers exited and formed the First Edition one year later.

“The First Edition was looking for songs to record and I came across Mel Tills’ “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town” and I remembered co-producing the song with Jimmy Bowen in 1969 and he stated that “the song would never get on the radio,” Rogers said. “I reassured him that if we did get the song on the radio, it would be really big and it turned out to be one of our greatest hits.”

While the First Edition continued to work together as a group for nine years, Rogers stepped into the spotlight as a solo artist when he signed a record deal with United Artists in 1976. That was also the year he met one of the most influential producing partners in his career: the late Larry Butler.  Together, the duo became a red-hot combination as several of their collaborations including “Lucille,” “Coward of the County” and “Laura (What He’s Got That I Ain’t Got)” became chart-topping hits.   However, the most memorable song to come from the partnership of Rogers and Butler was probably the country music legend’s most recognizable tune: “The Gambler.”

“Larry Butler brought it to me, but he also failed to mention that both Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson also recorded the song on the same day,” Rogers stated.

Rogers’ version of the Don Schlitz-penned tune not only peaked at the number one spot on the Billboard country music chart, but it also peaked at number three on the Easy Listening chart and the sixteenth spot on the pop chart. Also, “The Gambler” was transformed into a pop culture sensation through a Muppet Show sketch, a TV film serial, and even a Geico television commercial.

“I originally was not supposed to sing the song in the Geico commercial. I was just supposed to sit with the guys at the table saying lyrics from the record.” Said Rogers.  “The idea did not work, and then the director asked me to sing the lyrics. So, I sang the song. It was truly an amazing, funny and unique commercial.”

While Rogers achieved incredible success as a solo artist, it was his collaborations with his fellow recording artists that took his artistry to the next level of excellence.

“Recording duets is like running a 100-yard-dash, you run it as fast as you think you can and then, they put someone alongside you who runs faster, inevitably, you run faster.” Said Kenny Rogers. “Throughout my career, I found out that I can sing a lot better when I am singing with someone else, and I thoroughly enjoyed every single one of them.”

Rogers recorded duets with some of the best names in the music industry including Dottie West (“Every Time Two Fools Collide”), Anne Murray (“If I Ever Fall in Love Again”), Lionel Richie (“Lady”), Kim Carnes (“Don’t Fall in Love with a Dreamer”), Sheena Easton (“We’ve Got Tonight”), and the Bee Gees (“You & I”).  But, to many generations of music lovers, it was his exciting collaborations with country queen and fellow music legend Dolly Parton that made music fans’ collected hearts skip a beat.

“I remember we did a show together and when we were in rehearsals, I kept telling her that she has the most modest smile of any human being I have ever seen, and I would always look forward to working with her again in a heartbeat.” said Rogers.

 

While his “Islands in the Stream” and “You Can’t Make Old Friends” duet partner is also traveling the country on her world tour, Rogers stated that he was unsure if Ms. Parton would be able to join him on stage at any of his tour stops.

“It would be awesome if we could work something out,” Rogers added.  “I do not know if it has been planned, but I have a lot of other friends who want to come and perform a song or two with me.”

Throughout his six decades in the recording industry, Rogers experienced numerous dynamic shifts in the music world and exclusively shared his opinion of the new music model and why he is disappointed with the death of the album.

“Artists used to go out on tour to promote their albums. Now, artists do albums to promote their concerts. People download singles; they do not get the whole album anymore. I think it is very tragic.” Rogers commented. “Music is the greatest memory maker of all-time.  You remember the songs that you love and where you were when you first heard them. Today’s music industry has an American Idol mentality now.”

Rogers’ passionate fan base stuck by him through his professional career and the singer-songwriter noticed that his fans span numerous generations.  He also stated that he would miss his audience the most after he takes his final curtain call.

“It is very rewarding when I get good responses from the audience.” Said Rogers. “Having the ability to make people laugh and smile is a great attribute that any performer should have, and it is the interplay between me and the audience that I will miss the most when I retire.”

For more information about Kenny Rogers’ final world tour, visit his website.

You can also connect with the country music icon on social media by visiting Facebook, Instagram & Twitter channels.